‘Long Shot’ proves that politics, romance really can mix

By Ed Symkus, Correspondent

Friday

May 3, 2019 at 1:18 PMMay 3, 2019 at 1:18 PM

In these days of too much political turmoil and not nearly enough romance, it’s nothing short of exhilarating to see a movie that mashes the two together, then puts politics on the back burner and lets romance sit up front.

You might not pick up on any of that in the kind of off-putting opening segment of “Long Shot.” It features Seth Rogen as Fred Flarsky, an embedded reporter who tries to infiltrate a white supremacist meeting, but is found out, and identified not only as a reporter, but a Jewish reporter. The threat of violence ensues, and erupts into a scene that some viewers will find funny while others will take as painful.

The film easily could have done without that sequence, or at least lightened it up a bit. But the rest of it has so much going for it, most viewers will likely forget about the prologue.

So, let’s start with the introduction of Charlotte Field (Charlize Theron), the Secretary of State in the administration of U.S. President Chambers (Bob Odenkirk). She’s doing a great job. He is a moron, an actor who played a president on a TV show, convinced a gullible American public that he could do the job in real life, and has now decided that instead of running for a second term, he’d rather take a step up from TV and start working in movies.

The ambitious, sharp, and smart Charlotte sees this as an opportunity to go for the top spot herself, and hopes to get the soon-to-be-former president’s endorsement.

Then it’s back to Fred, a talented and angry and funny writer for a small newspaper that’s just been bought up by Parker Wembley (an unrecognizable Andy Serkis), who runs a conglomerate that keeps swallowing up and burying smaller publications.

In Fred and Charlotte, we have two very different main characters who share the kinds of virtues that immediately identify them as the good guys of this piece. He’s a staunch supporter of social justice who keeps writing about important causes, she’s a hardcore environmentalist who will make that an integral part of her platform. His life and work are a sloppy mess, but he gets things done. Her life and work are very much in order, so it’s no surprise that things usually work out for her.

They are in many ways opposites who are destined to attract; they just don’t know that. Yet when they each coincidentally show up at a social event and notice each other, they both have a feeling that it’s not for the first time. And they’re right, as a funny and raunchy and embarrassing flashback to when he was 13 and she was 16 reveals.

The screen lights up when they meet and it never dims. These two actors are absolutely terrific together, and as the plot puts their characters in close proximity, then has them get to know each other better, this becomes more and more fun to watch.

As Charlotte’s ideas of kicking off a future campaign start to take shape, and she finds out, studies, and appreciates the work Fred does, she hires him to travel with her and help punch up her speeches. Since this is a romantic comedy, it isn’t too hard to figure out where it’s heading, but the script by Dan Sterling (“The Interview”) and Liz Hannah (“The Post”) does so without going down any predictable paths.

There are also some oddball characters and performances helping to move things along. One by the aforementioned Serkis, whose Wembley is the slimiest of fellows, and another by a similarly unrecognizable Alexander Skarsgård, playing comically repellent Canadian Prime Minister Steward, who can’t keep his eyes off of Charlotte, and would like to have his hands on her.

The film is warm and funny and a little raunchy – no surprise with Rogen aboard – and it has a couple of serious issues in its corners. It claims that politics is all about optics and numbers and marketing, and that’s about as overtly political as this gets. As suggested, it really works best as a romantic comedy.